IU football knew it had to stop Iowa’s tight ends, that didn’t happen

The Hoosiers didn't just lose another Homecoming game, they were beat easily by the Hawkeyes.
Jordan Guskey, IndyStar

Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson (38) reacts in the end zone after scoring a touchdown in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, in Bloomington, Ind. Iowa won 42-16.(Photo: Doug McSchooler, AP)

IU’s coach told reporters Monday just how dangerous Iowa’s tight ends, a group led by the duo of Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson, would be. How their capabilities made them the best tight end corps the Hoosiers would face to date. So no one on defense was surprised at the skill-set those players brought to Iowa’s offense during the Hawkeyes’ 42-16 beatdown of the Hoosiers.

What Allen didn’t see coming, and what his defense didn't appear to be prepared for, was just how rough this would be.

“Those big tight ends were tough for us to match up with, more difficult than I was hoping for it to be,” said Allen postgame, his team now 4-3 overall and 1-3 in Big Ten play. “But that’s the reality of what happened. Those big bodies, they could run. They out-ran — both of them, (Fant) and (Hockenson) — both of them out-ran us.”

Fant finished with four receptions, 101 yards and a touchdown. Hockenson finished with four receptions, 107 yards and two touchdowns. Both can boast of a catch that went for more than 50 yards and the pair are now one-two for Iowa (5-1, 2-1) this season in terms of yards and receptions — with Hockenson tied for second in receptions.

They entered the game as two of quarterback Nate Stanley’s favorite targets, dared the Hoosiers to stop them and exerted their will most of the game. And not just when Stanley dropped back to pass. Their ability to line up as wide receivers forced matchup problem after matchup problem that opened the game up for their fellow receivers, yes, but without the pair’s blocking Iowa wouldn’t have been able to rush for 159 yards.

Stanley, himself, finished with 320 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

“They just kept coming and coming and coming,” said redshirt freshman linebacker Thomas Allen, who recorded his first career interception against Iowa. “They were just big guys. It’s kind of hard to get a look off a type of guy like that just because we don’t have any.”

Iowa lists Fant at 6-5, 241 pounds and Hockenson at 6-5, 250 pounds. The other two tight ends on the Hawkeyes’ two-deep roster, Shaun Beyer and Nate Wieting, are nearly identical to those marks. All four played and all four appeared as nimble in space as they are capable of bruising blocks.

Fant’s touchdown in the first quarter came because he out-ran IU redshirt sophomore husky Marcelino Ball to the end zone on a deep ball. Hockenson’s touchdown in the third quarter came because he broke away from an attempted tackle by IU redshirt freshman Juwan Burgess and won a footrace against two other Hoosiers to the end zone.

Thomas Allen brought up IU redshirt freshman Peyton Hendershot as someone who can duplicate what those Hawkeyes can do, but he indicated during practice Hendershot doesn’t spend much time going against IU’s defense. So it’s a moot point.

“You don’t really get to see a guy like that, how big, how physical, how they can run, too,” Thomas Allen said. “I think a lot of it’s just us learning. We just have to learn how to prepare even though you might not get that specific look through the week.”

If that doesn’t happen, opponents may find success in attempts to replicate Iowa’s game plan.

“It’s my responsibility to get our team ready to compete and play at the highest level, and based on how we performed throughout the game, it wasn’t to our standard,” coach Allen said. “I’m the head coach. It’s on me.”

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Jordan Guskey on Twitter at @JordanGuskey or email him at jguskey@gannett.com.